Wire stretcher



sept. 22,` 1925. 1,554,643

F. W.MNTGOMERY ET AL WIRE STRETCHER Filed July 28, 1924 Patented Sept. 22, 1925.

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To fall whom t may `concern Be it knownvthattwe, FRED-VV. MoN'rooMf nur and Daarna l), LINGER, citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Weston, in the county of Lewis and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in fire Stretchers, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to wire stretchers, and particularly to a device comprising clamping members adapted to engage a plurality of wires or wire fence fabric, the said device being effective to clamp the material, and through the employment of pulling means, to exert a stretching action on the material in order that the said material may be fastened to posts and the like, as those skilled in the art will understand.`

It is an object of this invention to provide novel coacting clamping bars associated with means for detachably connecting the said bars whereby they can be assembled or disassociated expeditiously, it being the purpose of 'the inventor to provide couplings between the clamping bars which can be caused to interlock by extending the coupling elements through the meshes of wire fabric.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a flexible yoke or chain between the two clamping bars in order that pull may be exerted on the bars simultaneously by any appropriate pulling device such as is used in stretching wire for fences.

A still further object of this invention is to produce a wire stretcher of the character indicated in which the force of the pulling means will, to a greater extent, be imparted to the clamping bars to insure a firm grip of the clamping bars on the fabric.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this application wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 illustrates a View in end elevation of clamping bars embodying the invention;

Figure 2 illustrates adview in elevation yoke .lappliedithereto; i i U Figure 3 illustrates an end view of the clamping bars omitting the yoke, but with the clamping bars associated with relation to each other in engagement with the fabric to be stretched; and

Figure 4 illustrates a view in side elevation of a fragment of the device associated with the fabric.

`In these drawings, 5 and 6 denote the clamping bars, each of which has its side beveled at its rear edge as shown at 7 and 8 of the respective bars. The bar 5, in the present embodiment of the invention, has a plurality of staples 9 extending through it, the said staples being ,anchored or held in place by fastening-S 1() such as nuts or the like. The looped ends of the staples constitute what might be termed eyes intoV which the lingers 11 of the bar 6 project and interlock, as shown in Fig. 3. Each linger is slightly curved at its outer end to insure against its being Vdislodged from its respective eye when force is being applied during the clamping operation, as will presently appear. Each finger has a shank 12 which extends through the bar 6 and it is held in place by a fastening 13 suchas a nut.

Each bar has a coupling bolt such as 14 near each end, and each bolt preferably terminates in an eye 15 to which the chain yoke is attached in any appropriate manner. As here shown, the chain yoke comprises two diagonally disposed chain sections 16 at each end of a central chain section 17, and as illustrated, the diagonally disposed chain sections have their diverging ends connected to the eyes of the bolts 14. A hitch or pulling device may be connected to the central chain section 17, and when pull is exerted on the yoke, the bars will have their beveled surfaces 7 and 8 forced toward each other and in engagement with the wire fabric 18 whichit is intended to stretch.

The fingers are fulcrumed, as it were, in the eyes 15 and when in operative position with relation to each other, the pull of the yoke on the bolts is tangential and the clamping action of the bars on the fabric is very great, compared with the pull exerted on the yoke.

It will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 3 that there is pronounced leverage resulting from the association of parts when in operative positions.

fof-1tl1e1sides of the clampingfabars.withtthe Veclaim: ,Y f A A Ina structure` for stretching Wire fences, coactng bars having beveled sides at their rear edges facing eachother, eyes having Shanks anchored in one of the bars and projecting from the edge thereof, curved fingers projecting from the edge of the otherl bar and adapted to be inserted in the meshes of a Wire fence and through the eyes of the otherybar, the said curved ngersextending laterally of the bar in which they are an-y chored for partially embracing the edges of 1 the eyes, flexible elements connected to the edges of the bars opposite those having the eyes and lingers, and pulling elements c'onnected to said members for' forcing the bars into engagement with the wire fence by reason of the anchorage of the bars together through the connections of the eyes and fingers.

FRED V.- MONTGOMERY. DARPHA D. LINGER. 

